As fires continue to rage across parts of our state’s eastern half, we felt it would be helpful to distribute some official resources to keep our members and supporters informed about the locations and dangers from these wildfires, and the latest updates on evacuation notices and recovery efforts.

ATVs have been all over the news in eastern WA lately. And you may have heard that we've appealed an Okanogan County decision to triple the amount of roads open to ATV’s without a thoughtful environmental review. But Conservation Northwest believes strongly that there is a place for responsible ATV use and other motorized recreation in the great outdoors.

Kaitlyn Abrams, one of our fantastic interns, recently reviewed Bryce Andrews' book Bad Luck Way. She found it to be an honest and poignant work that reminds us of an important truth: Wolves are not demons, nor are they angels.

Adopt a monitoring team to support citizen wildlife research! We're sending 27 teams out to look for wildlife in the wild landscapes of Washington. Give them a boost, and be a part of the action this season.

Last week, we lost one of our region’s most steadfast champions for environmental conservation. Below is a piece sent to us from Martha Kongsgaard, Chair of the Puget Sound Partnership, about Native American activist Billy Frank, Jr.’s unwavering optimism, his warm and friendly heart, and his decades of determined work to make Washington state and Indian Country a better place for future generations.

I’m delighted that Okanogan County, faced with a difficult trial against Conservation Northwest and the Methow Valley Citizens Council, chose to rescind two ordinances it passed last year that would have opened up county roads to an unlawful level of ATV access.
The county commissioners had been overly aggressive in trying to use new authorities the Conservation Northwest, as part of a diverse group of conservation and motorized recreation stakeholders, shepherded through Olympia.
The objective of the new state law was to increase recreational opportunities by allowing ATVs on certain types of low-speed (35 mph or less) roads while reducing environmental impacts by imposing visible license plates on all ORVs and boosting enforcement, so we can bust the bad apples who illegally ride through our sensitive backcountry.

Kris is an ecologist and Biology professor at Central Washington University (CWU) who is interested in population and community ecology and has a special enthusiasm for pikas. Her team consisted of recent graduates from CWU who love wildlife and the outdoors. Working with the WA Dept of Transportation and Forest Service, their main objective was to gather knowledge of what small mammals current occupy the area near where the wildlife overpass will be going in along I-90 near Snoqualmie Pass. Here's what they found...